The Development Room

My rule for introducing characters in this project has usually been for them to appear in a story chapter or wiki template. However, this page is where I break that rule to introduce characters I have concepts for that I'm ready to share, but might not have finalized designs or backstories. The names for them might not even be finalized at first.

The concepts here may be subject to change. When they're close enough to being finalized, they'll be moved from here, and basic information about them will be added to the wiki.

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Characters

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Published to the wiki

• Maisy S. Dawson

Concepts in development

• Windows XP character (name not finalized)
• Edna Bielefeld
• Phantom Piltdown
• Sidney Painchaud
• Xiù

Concepts in development

Windows XP character

Misc. notes

Edna Bielefeld

• When she joined Chariots of Colors, her mentor was Misa (Macintosh System 3.0-3.3).
• Left CC on shaky terms to go her own path, hoping for recognition. Despite leaving on shaky terms, she got along well enough with the team members to want to incorporates a rainbow motif from their team colors.
• After she left CC, she changed her surname.
• Keeps a prim and proper demeanor, but also has a boisterous, thrill-seeking side and eager to take part in the Troupe's treasure hunting operations. Honed her combat skills to plunder the malware lands.

Edna was featured in Version 2. This is her semi-finalized redesign that almost didn't happen in Version 3. 3 times. That's how many times I thought over whether to keep her in this continuity or retcon her out to have either Misa or Auriga replace her role. If that happened, she'd still exist in Fragments Reloaded as one of the Five Finger Discount Warez House members. She was mentioned in chapter 10 of Same Place, Different Universe and is slated to appear in chapter 11.

That decision needed to be made when I was writing chapter 10. In my notes for it (17 Jul 2026 Update Log), I listed the times she was almost retconned out. I decided to keep her in this continuity since her experiences in CC show that superstardom isn't really guaranteed, even when becoming an Operating Superstar within one of the most publicized teams.

Her situation is based on bands that have members that are forgotten or overlooked by the fans compared to their bandmates. She left CC to make a name for herself elsewhere, which led her to meet Paulette, Ashley and some other OSes to co-found the Misfired Circuits Troupe. She might not have stood out much compared to her former teammates so her style may be a lot flashier than it was as a bold, confident member of the MCT and announcer at their events.

Her surname is named after the German city of Bielefeld, a real city that developed a lot of conspiracies about how it doesn't exist. This also contrasts her with Phantom Piltdown, who has a surname that's named after a location associated with a hoax due to Phantom representing a non-existent Mac OS version. Phantom will also be added here.

Keeping a separate character for System 3.4 instead of one for all of System 3 boiled down to its strange version numbering within the early Mac OS lineup and obscurity that I could work with that'd be a perfect fit for the MCT.

Phantom Piltdown

A Ghost Data being. She might not be an Operating Superstar; it's not finalized if she used to be an OS before becoming Ghost Data or was always Ghost Data and never became an OS, since she represents a Mac OS version that is presumed to have never existed: System Software 5 is System 4.2 or 4.3 and Finder 6.0, so Sumire represents those.

It's possible these details about Phantom may be kept ambiguous and left to the reader's interpretation. However, she may have still been a member of Chariots of Colors, and used her skills to contribute to the team, and may have even had public performances even without an official debut.

Her usual outfit is based off of a Victorian-era circus performer's; she has purple hair that might have cyan, red or lilac streaks in it and has ghostly magenta or red eyes. Her outfit has some similarities and contrasts with Edna's; Phantom wears a long black cape that is beige underneath, and wears a black domino mask contrasting with Edna wearing a shorter beige cape that is black underneath and a white mask.

Ghost Data beings will have glitched appearances; their outfits may have glitch core aesthetics, they have ghostly eyes and are surrounded by glitching effects, and may have hair in clashing colors.

She might've left CC with Edna to co-found the Misfired Circuits Troupe. However, when I was considering retconning Edna out for another character to take her role, I didn't consider Phantom very much because I became unsure of how to represent characters representing non-existent releases although I still wanted to include them; Ghost Data beings were established as being in the setting, so having some represent non-existent OS releases is a way of having some be featured.

Her Version 2 backstory is that she was already a ghost, wandered into the Chariots of Colors HQ and was allowed to stay.

Sidney Painchaud

• Is a celebrity chef, and performs as a musician and DJ in gigs between her cooking shows.
• Ready Fleet's most famous member, but with that fame came difficulties; she was the face of the team for much longer than she intended which had its difficulties.
• Continuously remained in Ready Fleet after the original went defunct; the rest of the original OSes left or were fired by the management. This presented new difficulties to her as the face of a team that lost most of what it had (eventually its reputation would improve). She might've agreed to stay due to sunk costs during the low points of Ready Fleet's continuation.
• Although the most charismatic member of Ready Fleet and highly approachable, she isn't very patient as a teacher: The C64 inspired a lot of programmers, but C64 BASIC was very limited even for its time.
• Has a penchant for coffee.
• Used to be a dual member of Cool Person's Maison until it went defunct.
• Usually wears gold jewelry with her outfits, but otherwise her style is usually on the thrifty side.

Sidney is being re-introdued from Version 2. The first sketch is of her redesigned outfit, which reflects her role as a celebrity chef while also trying to keep a 1980's look to her. The color scheme in the first drawing is an approximation.

The C64 was successful for its games, its music and graphics, but I focused mostly on three details to keep Sidney's characterization focused, and to give her a complementary role on the team: The existence of the Commocoffee 64 (a C64 peripheral that made espresso), the C64's success and capabilities in music, and that the C64 overshadowed both of its intended successors (A Commodore 128 character and Paulette).

She may have been an enemy to the Game Commanders, or to On-Target Mountaineer Court's and their supporters in particular. Yet, later in her run in the original Ready Fleet, she might've also had a stint as a GC after they started becoming popular in her sector. If that's so, she doesn't like to talk about it: The C64 Games System was released as a game console modified from the C64 and was a flop. Whether she also represented the C64GS, or a separate character represents it isn't finalized, but I'm leaning more towards the former since it shows that despite her overall success and legacy, not everything she tried was successful.

At some point, I'll need to write lore details influenced by the Video Game Crash of 1983 and reference Commodore's contributions to it with how they marketed the VIC-20 and C64 since that information will be relevant to the Game Commanders and an article for them 🤔

I reintroduced her now because I planned for her to appear in the carnival in Same Place, Different Universe. SPDU has had a hold-up with the next chapters because I've been working on other stories, and also because some of the characters I planned to have appear in upcoming chapters didn't have finalized designs.

This is also one of the first mentioning of Cool Person's Maison in Version 3. I'll still need to think over if what I established for them still holds up, which might lead to drawing a design for that team's founder, Capucine (based on CP/M).

Xiù

• Her hair colors are based on the default iOS 11 wallpaper.
• Has black fish fins on her head and is an aquatic type; many of the iPhone X line wallpapers are of the sea or underwater photos.
• Her outfits incorporate black, gold and silver with colorful pieces that have iridescent or swirling patterns on them.
• Her usual outfit has a black tank top with a colorful iridescent skirt, silver bracelets and black or silver sandals with a gold pendant necklace. The pendant on her necklace is modeled after the camera layout on the iPhone X.
• She is a diva with an eye for the extravagant since the iPhone X marked another milestone for the iPhone and was released 10 years after the original; the X and XS line were the first iPhone models to reach or sell for more than $999 on launch (before $999 became a typical price point for later line-ups)
• Enjoys the beach.
• A photographer, like Fiore, but her speciality is underwater.
• An expert at facial recognition (iPhone X introduced FaceID)

Xiù is slated to appear in chapter 11 of Same Place, Different Universe and would be introduced as one of Chariots of Colors' newest members. Of the CC members, she'd get along really well with Mi-ho, who might've also been her mentor. She is similarly bold as Mi-ho and a challenger to the status quo.

This is a rework of the concept I had for her in Version 1. The design carries over with her having wavy green hair in ringlets with gold eyes, and wearing a black outfit. I updated it with multi-colored hair, iridescent pieces to her outfit, and for her to have fish fins. The WIP of her overworld image has some tweaks from the sketch and may be final by changing the light streaks in her hair to light yellow, and adding a rainbow stripe on her belt. The light yellow in her hair blended in better with her outfit though I think the blue, green and white hair color combo would be fitting for an OS X Mavericks character 🤔

It's not finalized if she also represents the XR; it also had wallpapers with the same themes, but a different color line-up and was lower-end and more like the iPhone 8. I'd definitely want to have a character with a palette based on the XR color line-up, but I'd just need to think over if that'd fit Xiu's style or would be a better fit for a separate character.

What led her to become an OS might be different from what I had planned in Version 1. In Version 1, she was an expy of a certain green-haired spoiled diva and heiress with extravagant habits, but was going to be a foil to her by being on the hero side and learn more humility through the tougher parts of working with Chariots of Colors; Version 1 had much more emphasis on fighting against malware, because the magical girl and superhero genres were a stronger influence. She wanted to prove that she could do something with her life and not coast by as an idle rich, and joining CC would've been perfect for her; glamorous but also where she'd get her hands dirty fighting malware.

That can still hold up, since CC's current era has an emphasis on defending against malware, but I had a slightly different angle in mind for how she joined when I started writing my draft for chapter 11 of SPDU.

I see conflicting information about whether the X in XS and R in XR mean anything, but this article led me to think she'd like sport cars and want to project a cool image:

Apple’s Phil Schiller confirms the iPhone XR name doesn’t stand for anything

Schiller did go on to explain what the letters meant to him, commenting that "I love cars and things that go fast, and R and S are both letters used to denote sport cars that are really extra special." (Porsche is fond of appending the letters on its models, and Mercedes Benz has both its R- and S-Class vehicles, for example.)

She might develop a thrifty side later on and remain a modern fashion icon would reference the iPhone X's continued popularity into the early 2020's as a cheap iPhone that doesn't seem outdated.

Published to the wiki

Maisy S. Dawson

• Might have been a Bureaucrat that changed her path towards entertainment; MS-DOS was designed as a business OS but many games were made for it and it has many demoscene productions.
• Her presentation style wasn't as flashy as some of her rivals and could be overlooked or dismissed as being boring. However, others saw as simple, straightforward and more honest which steadily gained her a lot of supporters in the field of entertainment and has shown that she can be much more tenacious than she may appear to be.
• Was the face of DISKTEAM for longer than she intended; she and Sidney share that common ground and the challenges of being the long-time face of a team.
• Continues to have friendly rivalries with several OSes, especially Sidney and Lorraine. They and some of her other rivals are also members of Demoscene Derby.
• Her favorite medium for making art are pixel art and mosaics, as a reference to the elaborate ANSI artwork on PC-based BBSes.
• Hosts at least one BBS; might host one for DWN.

Maisy was introduced in Version 2 and the design concept for her carries over with a few adjustments; her style is still elegant goth and vaporwave. The default GCA palette colors remind me of vaporwave. I couldn't fit the Defending Waits for Nobody insignia on her outfit without it looking cluttered and its colors would've clashed with her outfit, so I incorporated the stars on the insignia onto the black part of her hair bow.

She appears here now since she's slated to appear in A Fool's Errand, and with that, DISKTEAM will have their first in-story appearance!

Her characterization is based on that of a meek, unassuming underdog in the field of entertainment who becomes a skilled and popular performer through a lot of hard work. Sidney is one of her long-time rivals, and many of Sidney's supporters would've been dismissive of Maisy but surprised to find out they're friends and have at least one major thing in common.

Her reputation is similar to Priscilla's; both tend to be seen as boring, but reliable. Both of them have passionate sides to them that can emerge; Priscilla's is through music and Maisy's is through visual media. She may not be a particularly talented artist, but studied very hard for it and found a medium she enjoys working with the most. She might not be the most charismatic, but diplomacy is another of her skills that gained many supporters and many collaborations that DISKTEAM had. That could be a way to reference how MS-DOS was licensed out to many OEMs.

She also has a prominent rivalry with Chariots of Colors, but it's not as heated as it appears to be; it's a friendly rivalry, but how heated it could get is often played up by both sides and their supporters.

Her relation to Priscilla and whether they joined DISKTEAM at the same time aren't finalized yet. In Version 2, they were originally established as being sisters. I reconsidered this in Version 3 or late in Version 2. They might be sisters as in from the same clan, or might've been identical-looking strangers that became friends and teammates after crossing paths in an unusual way. If I went with the latter, there could've been an accidental switcheroo where Ximena mistook her for Priscilla, only for the real Priscilla to show up.

I like that accidental switcheroo idea, but Maisy and Priscilla might not have been complete strangers when they crossed paths and joined DISKTEAM. This would be if they were two of Capucine's (CP/M's) students before then, to reflect MS-DOS (and PC-DOS) being influenced by CP/M. If that's so, they would've preferred Ximena as their mentor and took after her more; MS-DOS and PC-DOS were intended to be functionally similar to Xenix and were promoted as its single-user counterparts. They much preferred Ximena as their mentor. Maisy also shares her interest in crafting, and they might've even worked together in Ximena's crafting shop if it continued to operate after DISKTEAM was founded.

When she debuted isn't finalized yet because some sources say MS-DOS was released the same day as PC-DOS; they were functionally the same in their earliest versions, but the first version branded as MS-DOS was released in April 1982 for OEMs other than IBM. Either of these can work; I'm just being indecisive 🙃